Jak X: Combat Racing

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Jak is back for the drive of his life.

By Ed Lewis

After you've sold 7.5 million copies in a trilogy that tells an epic story that takes place in an imaginary war-torn city with some beautiful graphics and smooth controls, what do you do next? Hit the freakin' road! That's what Naughty Dog is doing with their upcoming Jak X: Combat Racing, taking the driving parts of Jak 3 and wildly expanding upon them to create a completely different new game. It may sound crazy, but the folks at Naughty Dog have got some skills and if they're willing to put some time into it it should be something good, and with plenty of explosions.

While a Jak racing game may be a departure for the franchise, it's nothing new for Naughty Dog. After making three Crash Bandicoot titles on the PSone, it changed directions and made a kart-racer with Crash Team Racing. It may have been a couple of years after Mario Kart 64, but it still packed in some gameplay and p more than its fair share of fun and thrills. If Jak X can do the same, then we're in for a hell of a ride.

All of this racing in the land of Jak starts with the reading of Krew's will. Jak killed Krew in Jak II and an invite to a reading is more than a little odd. When Jak and Daxter arrive in Kras City they find that Ashelin, Keira, Samos and Torn have also been invited. And it all takes a turn for the worse when Krew reveals in a recording that everyone at the reading, even his daughter Rayn, has been poisoned. The only way to get the antidote is that they must race for him in the Kras City Grand Championship.

After Jak saved the world in Jak 3 the world has flourished as cities were built and new sports emerged. One of these was combat racing, a sport where drivers raced and attacked each other to thrill the crowds. Kras City has emerged as the premiere racing spot and the Kras City Grand Championship is the biggest event on the planet. All of the deadliest and fastest racers are here and Jak is right in the middle of all of it.

All this sets up Jak and his friends for some racing that takes place in 20 different tracks and eight open combat arenas that have a total of more than a 100 events between them. The racing takes place in jungles, along cliffs, and even over ice and snow. But these aren't little kart racers. Instead, the vehicles are burly cars that are more developed versions of the stripped-down vehicles seen in Jak 3. While driving, the cars feel solid and when they come crashing back down to the ground they have some definite weight to them. The world may still be cartoonish, but the feeling is more serious this time.

Who needs Eco when you have a big-ass cannon?

While driving along the tracks, the cars can pick up weapons, turbos, and health along the way. These are represented by colored blocks. Blue is for the turbo and the green is for the health while the yellow is for the forward-facing weapons and the red is for the backward-facing weapons. After hitting the yellow or red blocks, the different possible weapons will quickly cycle before settling on a selection at random. If the weapon is what the player wants, then it can be stored for use. If not, it's just a matter of shooting it off to clear up space for another since only one can be held at a time.

The forward-facing weapons include a variety of missiles of the homing and non-homing variety. We're sure that more will be added later, but it was the selection of backward-facing weapons that were more interesting for the tracks. These could be oil slicks or sentry turrets to shoot at anyone who comes next or even mines to spice up the road a little. Placing a mine right after a tight turn is sure to take out an enemy or two. But it's important to be careful since these stick around until they get used. So if the other drivers avoid the traps, it's possible that the player can be responsible for his own explosion when he comes around the lap again.